My Genealogy Hound

Thomas McFerran, a native of Franklin County, Ark., was born in February 17, 1843, and is a son of Samuel and Esther (Kennedy) McFerran. His paternal grandfather, Thomas McFerran, a native of Tennessee, and a farmer and blacksmith, first settled in Mississippi, where he lived until 1838, when he removed to Arkansas, locating on a farm in Franklin County, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1851, in his seventieth year. He served in the War of 1812, and participated in the battle of New Orleans. He was justice of the peace in Prairie Township for a number of years, and was a stanch Democrat politically. Samuel McFerran was born, reared and educated in Tennessee; in 1837 he removed to Franklin County, Ark., where he owned 1,100 acres of land, 200 acres of which were under cultivation. He was also engaged in merchandising. In 1863 he was driven from his home by the Federal soldiers, and he located in Sevier County, which was his home until his death, March 3, 1864. In 1840 he married Esther, a daughter of Nathan Kennedy, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, and settled in Franklin County in 1838. Esther McFerran died in 1845, leaving four children, viz.: Mary, wife of Samuel Wilburn; Thomas, Catherine, wife of D. W. Flannigan, and Harriet, who married A. L. Rogers. In 1850 Samuel McFerran married Catherine Dimme, by whom he had six children: Sarah J., deceased; Martha, wife of alexander C. Nartham; James B., Margaret, John M., and Arminta, who married J. B. Gibson, and is now living on the old homestead in Prairie Township. Thomas McFerran grew to manhood in Franklin County, and received his education in the common schools of that county. In 1861 he enlisted in Company F, Third Arkansas State Tropps, Confederate army, and served in the battles of Oak Hill, Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, surrendering in 1865, when he returned to his home. In the fall of 1865 he went to Texas, where he herded cattle, and in the following year went to Missouri, where he was engaged in the same business. In 1867 he married Geliza Sharp, who was born in Franklin County, Ark., in 1848, and is a daughter of Hiram Sharp, one of the early settlers of the county. After his marriage Mr. McFerran settled on the farm where he now lives, which consists of 220 acres, of which 150 acres is under cultivation. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McFerran, whose names are Sarah C., now Mrs. P. Warren; Samuel, Hiram, Grover C. and Libbie. Mr. McFerran is actively interested in the public schools, and is an enterprising farmer and stock raiser.